Apparatus for curling plastic yarn



March 24, 1959 v. L. NICHOLS ETAL 2,873,514

APPARATUS FOR CURLING' PLASTIC YARN Original Filed Dec. 22, 1955 Y 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

' INVENTORS 5W a d/ 3 m m y van er: (:3

ATTORNEYS March 1959 v. L. NICHOLS ET AL 2,373,514

APPARATUS FOR CURLING PLASTIC YARN Original Filed Dec. 22, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.7

IN V EN TORS lcfor 1:. M'ciazs y [9am I Garcia/1's WCO'L ATTORNEYS United States Patent APPARATUS FOR CURLING PLASTIC YARN Victor L. Nichols, Bergenfield, and Ivan J. Carshelis,

Linden, N.J., assignors to David & David, Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y., a corporation of New York Original application December 22, 1955, Serial No. 554,751. Divided and this application October 7, 1957, Serial No. 688,559

4 Claims. (Cl. 1819) This'invention relates to a method and apparatus for continuously curling plastic yarn to be employed as hair on a dolls head.

One object of the present invention is the provision of generally new and improved apparatus for curling plastic yarn which is simple and economical both in construction and operation.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of new improved apparatus for continuously curling plastic yarn which apparatus is so arranged that as yarn curls are formed thereon, said curls exert pressure on adjacent curls to continuously move them along a mandrel whereby to provide a self-feeding of the curled yarn on said apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a new and improved storage device for storing curled yarn which device is adapted to hold a substantially greater amount of curled yarn thereon than any device heretofore known of similar size.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of apparatus for curling plastic yarn shown connected to one form of storage device embodying the present invention, said storage device being shown in elevation;

Fig. 2 is a sectional View taken along the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the details of construction of a means for connecting the curling apparatus'to a storage device;

Fig. 4 is a top plan view in reduced scale illustrating the curling and storage apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a rod forming part of the mandrel included in the apparatus shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is an end view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating a modification of the present invention;

Fig. 7 is a side elevational view of a modified form of apparatus for continuously curling plastic yarn;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged side elevational view illustrating a further modification of the present invention;

Fig. 9 is a perspective view of a modified form of storage device embodying the present invention; and

Fig. 10 is a perspective view of a modified form of mandrel which is adapted to be connected to the device for automatically curling yarn.

Referring now to the drawings in detail and particularly to Fig. l, a curling device 10 is shown therein connected to a storage device 12. The curling device 10 comprises a hollow horizontally disposed shaft 14 which is mounted for rotation on spaced ball bearings 16 and 18 which are supported by brackets 20 and 22, respectively, mounted on a horizontal surface 24. Fixedly mounted on shaft 14 as by a set screw 25 in a pulley 26 which is adapted to have run thereover a drive belt 28 for rotating said pulley and said shaft. -Disposed immediately to the left of bearing 16, as viewed in Fig.-

1, is a collar 30 which is fixedly mounted on shaft 14 for rotation therewith. Collar 30 is provided with a passage 32 which is in registry with an aperture 34 in shaft 14 and extending through said passage and aper-' ture is a spinner or winding tube 36 which extends outwardly from said collar 30 and is bent into a horizontal line therewithout. -With further reference to Fig. l, a pair of bearings 38 and 40 are mounted on shaft 14 to the left of collar 30 and are spaced from each other by means of a collar 42 which is fixedly mounted on shaft Preferably, bearings 38 and 40 are of the ball bearing type whereby to substantially eliminate friction between the inner and outer races thereof. Fitted within member 46 is a collar 47 which slidably engages the side of the outer race of bearing 40. Member 46 is fixed to collar 47 as by set screw 44 to thereby prevent longitudinal movement of member 46. being mounted on the outer races of bearings 38 and 40 normally remains stationary even while shaft 14 is rotating and, for reasons which shall become apparent here-' inafter, when yarn is being curled upon said device the yarn further acts to prevent rotation of the member 46 with shaft 14.

Member 46 is provided with a plurality of cavities 50,

here shown as two in number, which extend from a point' within the member to the surface of the conical or tapered portion 48. The conical or tapered portion 48 is further provided with grooves 52 extending down opposed elements thereof from the points where the cavities 50 intersect the surface of tapered portion 48. Disposed within cavities 50 are a pair of rods 54 which have intermediate angular portions extending down said opposed elements of conical portion 48 within the grooves 52 therein. The free end portions 56 of rods 54 are preferably slightly convergent and may be tapered as shown in Fig. 1 and extend in substantially the same direction whereby to form a non-circular mandrel 58 for device. 10. By disposing rods 54 within cavities 50, a convenient means is provided for connecting the mandrel to the member 46 in operative relation therewith. Furthermore, as may best be seen in Fig. l, angular portions '56 r of rods 54 extend above the snrfaceof tapered portion 48 of member 46 whereby to render said tapered or conical portion non-circular. Accordingly, by the provision of rods 54, a non-circular tapered or conical member is provided, and a non-circular mandrel, here shown asautomatically rectangular in cross section, is connected therewith in fixed relation thereto.

In operation, plastic yarn or thread 60, which is normally obtainable on relatively large spools, is drawn off the spool and led through the inside of hollow shaft14 and to the outside of the shaft through tube 36. In this' connection it is to be noted that the end 62 of tube 36 is disposed above the non-circular tapered portion 48. The thread 60 is wound around tapered portion 48 and thereafter shaft 14 is rotated by means of the pulley 26 and belt 28. Since tube 36 is rotatable with the shaft 14, the end 62 of the tube rotates around the tapered portion 48. It has been found that by making the mandrel non-circular, the turning of the curls relative to the mandrel is resisted. This resistance to the turningtends to move down toward the apex of the conical or tapered portion 48 thereby tending to push the adjacent curls downward toward said apex and hence toward the man drel 58. Accordingly, the curls are self feeding in a 1 direction longitudinally of mandrel 58 and no external:

Patented Mar. 24,

Member 46 3 feeding means is necessary. However, if desired, external feeding means such as opposed rollers 64 (Fig. 7) may be employed to positively feed the curled yarn along the mandrel in a direction longitudinally thereof.

Although the rods 54 shown in Fig. l are relatively short, it is possible and sometimes highly desirable as will become apparent hereinafter to provide relatively long rods sometimes extending many feet from the tapered portion 48. Furthermore, it is sometimes desirable to immerse the curled thread into a liquid for reasons which will become clear hereinafter. In order to accomplish this immersion automatically, rods 54 may be provided with dips or bows 66 which are adapted to lower the curls of yarn into a liquid receptacle 68 (Fig. 8). Moreover, mandrel 58 may be formed of more than two rods 54 and may, in fact, be formed of four rods all of which may be embedded in member46, as shown in Fig. 6.

Storage device 12 comprises a non-circular rod 70 of substantially smaller peripheral extent than that of the curls 72 formed on mandrel 58. One end 74 of the storage device 12 is adapted to be connected to mandrel 58 in a manner to be described hereinafter. The other end of the storage device is provided with a suitable fixed stop such as a ball 76 which is adapted to engage curls 72 as they move down the storage device in a manner to be described hereinafter for preventing said curls from unraveling off the storage device 12. As shown in Fig. 1, storage device 12 is formed into a helix and the rod 70 is square in cross-section. By forming the rod 70 into a helix, the device may be more conveniently handled. However, if desired, a storage device 12 made up of a straight rod 70' having a ball 76 at the free end thereof may be provided as is shown in Fig. 9. The end 74' adapted to be connected to the mandrel 58 is preferably bent at substantially a right angle to the main axis of the storage device 12, as at 78. In the helical form shown in Fig. 1, the curls 72 are moved along rod 78 by means of lateral pressure resulting from the self-feeding of the curls on the mandrel together with the force of gravity. When using a straight storage device such as shown in Fig. 9, it will be seen that portion 74' thereof is disposed in a substantially horizontal plane and the remainder of the storage device extends vertically whereby to permit the curls to move down said storage device towards the stop means or ball 76 under the influence of gravity. With either construction, by forming the storage device of a rod of substantially smaller peripheral extent than the curls, it has been discovered that the curls tend to pile on top of one another and thereby permit the storage of for example 20 curls in a space substantially equal to the width of the yarn forming the curls. Accordingly, for a given length of storage device, many times the amount of curled yarn can be stored thereon than .could be stored on a storage device having a peripheral extent substantially equal to that of the curls 72. Moreover, with either storage device, the device is connected to the mandrel 58 and depends therefrom. It has been found that the weight of the storage device is sufficient to resist any turning moment applied to member 46 through bearings 38 and 40 whereby to prevent member 46 from turning.

Although mandrel 58 is preferably formed of rods 54 as hereinbefore described, it will be understood that other forms of mandrels may be employed without departing from the present invention. For instance, a pcripherally continuous non-circular mandrel may be secured to tapered portion 48 and may extend longitudinally therefrom and, in fact, member 48 may be initially formed as a non-circular member whereby to obviate the necessity for the portions of mandrel rod 54 extending above the surface thereof to render said tapered portion 48 non-circular. However, when employing the presently preferred form of the invention with mandrel 58 comprising the spaced rod .54, .a suitable adaptor 80 is preferably fixedly connected to one of said rods 54 as by soldering to facilitate the connection of the mandrel with the storage device. Adaptor is a U-shaped member of substantially the same longitudinal extent as the mandrel 58 and is provided with a tapered channel 82 having a bottom surface which diverges from the bottom of the adaptor whereby to render the bottom of the channel 82 horizontal when the adaptor is connected to the mandrel 58. Channel 82 defines a space of substantially the same peripheral extent and configuration as the end 74 of storage device 12 whereby to provide a simple and effective means for connecting the storage device to the mandrel by merely inserting the end 74 of the storage device into channel 82 of the adaptor. Of course, if the mandrel is a relatively long mandrel, as shown in Fig. 10, then adaptor 80 need not be as long as mandrel 58' but need only extend inwardly from the free end of said mandrel for a few inches whereby to provide a suitable connection between the storage device 12 and the mandrel.

In accordance with the method for curling yarn embodying the present invention, it is presently preferred that the yarn be thermoplastic or hygroscopic or, of course, it may be both. The presently preferred yarns are cellulose acetate commonly known as acetate which is both thermoplastic and hygroscopic, and polyvinylidine chloride sold under the trade name Saran which is thermoplastic. Hygroscopic yarns may be plastically deformed by wetting whereas non-hygroscopic yarns which are thermoplastic may be plastically deformed by heating. Coming first to a method whereinheat is used as the plastic deforming agent, the plastic yarn, which may be constituted by a single thread or multiple strands of thread, is drawn off the spools and is passed through a suitable tension device. If the yarn displays a tendency to shrink excessively, it should preferably be preshrunk prior to treatment in accordance with the present invention. Thereafter, yarn passes through the spinning tube 36 as hereinbefore described and is Wound around mandrel 58 which holds the yarn in its curled form as hereinbefore mentioned. The yarn is moved along the mandrel by self-feeding or by positive feeding such as by rollers 64 (Fig. 7). While still on the mandrel the thermo plastic yarn is subjected to heat as in a heating chamber 84 to a sufficient extent to cause plastic flow whereby to permanently deform the yarn into its curled state. Thereafter, the yarn may be cooled while in curled form and preferably while still on the mandrel to set the yarn in its curled state. When so cooling the yarn, theyarn is moving along the mandrel or it may be transferred to a storage device such as device 12 or 12 Where cooling will take place with the yarn in curled form. Once the cooling has taken place, the storage device may be transferred to suitable storage rack until needed at the sewing machines which sew the yarn onto the heads of dolls to simulate hair. However, if desired, the storage devices 12 and 12 may be eliminated from the method and the permanently curled yarn may be led off the end of the mandrel and directly to the sewing machine where the curled yarn is sewed onto the dolls head as artificial hair therefor.

If, however, the plastic deforming agent is to be moisture as would be the case with a hygroscopic yarn, then after the yarn has been curled onto mandrel 58, it is wetted as by immersing it in a container 68 (Fig. 8) and thereafter is subjected to heat for rapidly drying it, as by passing it through a heat chamber 75, or it may be exposed to the atmosphere as it is carried along a relatively long mandrel to air dry the material whereupon it is transferred to a storage device 12 or 12. Of course, the curled hygroscopic yarn may be led directly off the mandrel to a sewing machine.

When using Saran, it is preferred to heat the Saran yarn to temperatures between and 240 degrees F. and preferably to heat Saran to .a temperature of 200 degrees F. At these temperatures, it has been found that Saran rapidly takes on the curled form into which it has been placed on the mandrel.

With regard to acetate yarn, if it is desired to plastically deform the acetate yarn by heat, it is preferred that the acetate yarn be heated to a temperature between 260 degrees F. and 360 degrees F. and preferably to 300 degrees F. However, if it is desired to plastically deform acetate by wetting, it has been found that if 5% of water by weight of yarn is introduced onto the acetate yarn, the acetate yarn will deform and take on curl.

It has been discovered that it is more convenient when plastically deforming acetate to rely upon the hygroscopic properties of the yarn rather than on the thermoplastic properties thereof. Accordingly, in accordance with the presently preferred mode of carrying out this invention, after the yarn is wound onto a mandrel 58, it has been found most desirable to pass it through a steam chest 84 which has a mixture of steam and water vapor at a temperature of approximately 200 degrees. Such a steam chest contains sufficient water vapor to plastically deform acetate by wetting and will be maintained at a 200 degree temperature which is the preferred temperature for plastically deforming Saran by heating. Accordingly, one simple apparatus may be employed to plastically deform either Saran or acetate by heating and wetting, respectively. A

While we have herein shown and described several forms of the present invention, it will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein within the scope of the appended claims without depart- I ing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

This is a division of our application Serial No. 554,751, filed December 22, 1955.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. Apparatus for curling thermoplastic yarn or the like for the manufacture of simulated hair, comprising a tapered member, a spinning member provided with a passage therethrough for the yarn and mounted for rotation around the longitudinal axis of said tapered member for receiving the yarn from a supply and winding the yarn into curls onto said tapered member, a mandrel extending from the narrower end of said tapered member to receive the curls therefrom progressively along the length of the mandrel, said mandrel having a free outer end and a noncircular contour and tapering longitudinally from the narrower end of said tapered member to facilitate the movement of the curls longitudinally of the mandrel toward said outer end thereof, and a rotary shaft co-axial with said tapered member and connected to said spinning member for rotating the latter, said shaft having a longitudinal passage for the yarn and in communication with said passage in said spinning member for guiding the yarn from the supply to the spinning member.

2. Apparatus for curling thermoplastic yarn or the like for the manufacture of simulated hair, comprising a tapered member, a spinning member provided with a passage therethrough for the yarn and mounted for rotation around the longitudinal axis of said tapered member for receiving the yarn from a supply and winding the yarn into curls onto said tapered member, a mandrel extending from the narrower end of said tapered member to receive the curls therefrom progressively along the length of the mandrel, said mandrel tapering longitudinally from the narrower end of said tapered member to facilitate the movement of the curls longitudinally of the mandrel, and a transverse member continuous with and at the end of the mandrel remote from said tapered member, for the passage of the curls off the mandrel, and a rotary shaft co-axial with said tapered member and connected to said spinning member for rotating the latter, said shaft having a longitudinal passage for the yarn and in communication with said passage in said spinning member for guiding the yarn from the supply to the spinning memher.

3. Apparatus for curling thermoplastic yarn or the like for the manufacture of simulated hair, comprising a horizontally disposed tapered member, a spinning member provided with a passage therethrough for the yarn and mounted for rotation around the longitudinal axis of said, tapered member for curling the yarn around said tapered member, and a horizontal mandrel extending from the narrower end of said tapered member coaxially thereof to receive the curls from the tapered member, and a trans-, verse member continuous with and at the end of the mandrel remote from said tapered member, for the passage of the curls off the mandrel, a rotary shaft for rotating said spinning member, and means including an anti-friction bearing supporting said tapered member on said shaft whereby said tapered member and mandrel remain stationary during rotation of said shaft.

4. Apparatus for curling thermoplastic yarn or the like for the manufacture of simulated hair, comprising a horizontally disposed tapered member, a spinning member provided with a passage therethrough for the yarn and mounted for rotation around the longitudinal axis of said tapered member for curling the yarn around said tapered member, and a horizontal mandrel extending from the narrower end of said tapered member coaxially thereof to receive the curls from the tapered member, and a transverse member continuous with and at the end of the mandrel remote from said tapered member, for the passage of the curls off the mandrel, a rotary shaft for rotating said spinning member, said shaft having a longitudinal passage for the yarn and in communication with said passage in said spinning member for guiding the yarn from the supply to the spinning member, and means including an anti-friction bearing supporting said tapered member on said shaft whereby said tapered member and mandrel remain stationary during rotation of said shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,365,952 Hanson Dec. 26, 1944 2,491,152 Beidle Dec. 13, 1949 2,545,271 Gartner Mar. 13, 1951 2,586,763 Judisch Feb. 19, 1952 2,740,987 Moncrielf Apr. 10, 1956 2,800,683 Teichmann July 30, 1957 

